November 22, 2010 archive

Froomkin

WASHINGTON — These days, when we think of George W. Bush, we think mostly of what a horrible mess he made of the economy. But his even more tragic legacy is the loss of our moral authority, and the transformation of the United States of America from global champion of human rights into an outlaw nation.

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I have come to the conclusion that impeaching Bush would indeed have ripped the country apart. If we had done that, there would be Republicans demonstrating in the street holding up Hitler signs and shit. And the Repubs in Congress would completely obstruct everything and be vowing to make Obama a one term president. And that would be too high a price to pay for America actually remaining a moral nation.

/disgusted cynical snark

Oil Spill’s Unlicensed Engineers

My oh my, and to think that all one apparently needs is that higher education industry mill piece of paper, when if a tradesman performs any work and gets caught without being licensed all hell breaks lose, Especially if something goes wrong!!

Uncalculated Risks

USA Destroys Entire Afghan Villages

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The headline from the New York Times shifts the blame to NATO and makes it all sound sort of reasonable.

NATO Is Razing Booby-Trapped Afghan Homes

House got a bomb in it? Knock it down!

But…

Abdul Rahim Khan, 50, a tribal elder from Spirwan in Panjwai District, claimed that in many cases the American troops had been destroying empty homes, even when there were not any explosives inside. However, military officers pointed out, searching empty homes was often too dangerous.

House maybe got a bomb in it? Knock it down!

Village maybe got a bomb in it?

Destroy the whole village!

In Arghandab District, for instance, every one of the 40 homes in the village of Khosrow was flattened by a salvo of 25 missiles, according to the district governor, Shah Muhammed Ahmadi, who estimated that 120 to 130 houses had been demolished in his district.

“And not just Khosrow, but many villages,” says the governor of Arghandab District.

“We had to destroy them to make them safe.”

Open LeGuin

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S01E12: The Tester Amendment to S. 510 the Food Safety Bill

cross-posted from Main Street Insider

There are several reasons that we decided upon the Tester Amendment to the Food Safety Bill for episode 12 of 90 Second Summaries. First and foremost, the amendment is a significant one that is essential to understanding this piece of legislation (legislation we summarized in episode 7). Not only is it the most substantial difference between the Senate’s version of the bill and the House’s, but without it the future of the legislation itself would be unclear. Therefore, we think it is important that people understand how this amendment changes the bill.

Another significant influence in our decision was you. When we summarized the Food Safety Bill in episode 7 a number of viewers brought up the issue of protections for small farmers. It was clear to us that this amendment was worthy of a summary.

U.S Foreign Policy & The End Of Empire

MIT Professor Noam Chomsky talks with Real News CEO Paul Jay about the history and current state of US foreign policy debunking various myths – including the myth that republicans are the warmongers and that democrats are more “peace” oriented, from FDR’s and Roosevelt’s vision for world domination by the U.S. after the second world war, through the current situation of U.S. toothless sanctions and delusional attempts at threats and references to a U.S led  “international community” that much of the rest of the world simply shrugs off and laughs at.

So by now, you know, the traditional backyard, the Western Hemisphere, a big piece of it, South America, it has become much more independent. They’re throwing out all US military bases. They’re moving towards some degree of integration. They’re not following the US orders. We just saw that when Brazil joined with Turkey to arrange for a mechanism for Iran to enrich substantial parts of its uranium outside of Iran.

[snip]

The issue of sanctions on Iran is a very striking illustration of the increasing limitations of US power. I mean, that’s kind of like-you read the foreign policy literature and, you know, government statements, this is the big problem. This is in fact called the year of Iran, and Iran is described as the greatest threat to world order. I’ll come back in a moment to what the threat is. But part of this is the US effort to try to get the world to accept the harsh US sanctions, not the UN sanctions. UN sanctions are pretty much toothless, so China and Russia and others go along with them willingly. The US sanctions are much harsher. They have no international legitimacy other than the force that lies behind them, and the US is getting desperate about the fact that the rest of the world isn’t following them.

So Brazil has-and Turkey, neighboring power and leading power in the Third World, have just essentially rejected them. Turkey’s announced it’s going to triple its growing trade with Iran, establish a new pipeline.

Brazil says, look, we go along with the Non-Aligned countries and most of the world in supporting Iran’s right to enrich uranium. But the big one is China. That they can’t push around, and they’re very upset about it. A couple of weeks ago, the State Department issued a warning to China and said that if you want to join the international community-meaning, what we run-you have to meet your international responsibilities, namely, follow US orders, follow our sanctions.

It probably elicited laughter in the Chinese foreign office. They cannot force them to do it. And this is indication of an erosion of the ability to coerce. You can have 800 military bases and spend as much as the rest of the world combined on the military, but you can’t force China, or even Turkey or even Brazil, to follow your orders.



Real News Network –  November 21, 2010

Chomsky on U.S. Global Policy

U.S. still wants to dominate but cannot order other big powers as it pleases;

Iran war threat is real


..full transcript below..

Refomers Should Expect the Unexpected

So many of our causes, passions, and movements could be characterized in terms of David versus Goliath, requiring superhuman strength to set right.  At the outset, the odds are stacked against us.  Business corruption must not be allowed to metastasize, lest the country be utterly eviscerated by it.  Environmental pollutants must not destroy our fragile ecosystem.  The military must have its spending curtailed in order to prevent massive waste and a swelling national debt, a belief held even by  those who do not object to the very existence of a military.  The prison-industrial complex must not be allowed to grow ever larger, while it incarcerates men of color at rapidly growing rates.  It’s easy to get burned out, knowing the vast size and sweep of these problems, and easier still to believe that no amount of effort expended for any length of time will make one iota’s worth of difference either way.

Docudharma Times Monday November 22




Monday’s Headlines:

Carbon emissions set to be highest in history

USA

Administration to Seek Balance in Airport Screening

‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ to be released day earlier than planned

Europe

IMF and EU bail out Ireland amid fears of Eurozone contagion

Villepin backs ‘Karachigate’ claims against Sarkozy

Middle East

No return to Middle East talks without halt to settlement construction, warns Abbas

Israeli troops guilty of Gaza abuse

Asia

New Zealand mine explosion: ‘Every chance’ miners are still alive, says PM

Film executive quits Hollywood to help Cambodia’s poor

Africa

New twist in SA’s Aids war

Uganda’s salt miners dying for a climate change deal

High-seas piracy drama plays out in U.S. courtroom

Five Somalis accused of attacking a Navy ship await their fate in the first such trial in almost 200 years.

By Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Norfolk, Va. –

The moon was bright, the sea was calm, and the pirates easily spotted their prey – a large gray ship plodding through waves 576 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.

Three men jumped from a command boat into an open skiff and raced toward the target. They opened fire with AK-47 rifles as they neared the starboard side, hitting a mast and several life lines.

No one was hurt, and the April 1 incident normally might have drawn little notice. Somali sea bandits have attacked several hundred freighters, tankers and other merchant ships this year. They have successfully hijacked 40 vessels and their crews and held them for ransom..

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

Time for a break from poetry…in order to create some art.

New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.

–John Locke



Pierced

Late Night Karaoke

Just Looking

Posted at Daily Kos and as “My Views from Last Week” at Star Hollow Gazette.

I have a few pleasant photography stories to tell from a week ago. Between the autumn color and the desperation of one last warm weather week, it was a good week for a photo buff. Now don’t go busting my bubble by just looking at the photos because you can learn a lot from a photographer. We see things.

Below you will find a Third Rock from the Sun brief encounter during an evening walk in the Village. I have several memories from a lecture I attended on photojournalism. There is a pleasant Veterans Day walk under the George Washington Bridge on the New Jersey side followed by a sunset from the New York side. Then a Friday afternoon walk in Central Park with some music videos I made and all day Saturday there too. There is even a little taste of Florence, Italy.  

trust and surrender

There are those moments.

Few and far between.

Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?

Close your eyes and trust it, just trust it

Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?

Have you ever looked fear in the face

And said I just don’t care?

And you have to…. Listen.

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